Big Announcement!

On September 4th, Mayor Stoney’s R-TD column stated he will fully fund phase one of the facilities plan once it is passed by the School Board and vetted by the Education Compact committee. Folks, this is HUGE NEWS! It’s crucial to hear this early in the budget process. Also, this will be the first complete budget from Mayor Stoney and the new City Council. It’s their biggest opportunity to make change.

“Once that [school facilities] plan has been presented and vetted, I will instruct my administration to develop a plan to fund the first phase of the needed investment over the next five years.”- Mayor Levar Stoney

To start the domino of funding, the School Board must endorse a phase one list of schools and actions (consolidation, rezoning, etc.). The Ad-Hoc School Board committee (Cosby, Menz-Erb, Sapini, and Owen) met on August 25th to discuss updated enrollment numbers, criticisms of “open seats”, named Menz-Erb as the committee chair, and toured Henderson Middle to discuss renovations. Their next meeting is Tuesday, September 19th at 5pm in Wythe High School.

Their report is due back for consideration at the October 16th School Board meeting. To stay on the funding timeline, it is crucial that they finish their report in the next 37 days. Read more about why October 16th is important in our last update.

How to Help

Join Richmond Forward Funding and Policy Action team to help our elected officials make informed decisions. We are meeting this upcoming week to discuss (1) list of School Board actions and phase one schools, (2) possible funding plans, and (3) community engagement and storytelling.

We need your help because our government will only be as accountable as we make it. Contact us today at contact@richmondforward.com if you want to join in. We hope to see you soon!